Onkar Kulkarni (BOMBAY TIMES; October 12, 2019)

Salman Khan is all set to bring his Chulbul Pandey avatar on screen again. This one will be directed by Prabhudeva, and recently, he shared the teaser of the film on social media. From the khaki vardi, aviator glasses to the pencil mooch, the actor is sporting it all once again as seen in the glimpses of the third installment of the franchise.

What one can’t miss is the red-yellow thread tied around his wrist. Interestingly, just like the upcoming film, the poster of Dabangg 2 had also featured Salman wearing a sacred thread around his wrist. He had also sported the same in part one of the franchise. The actor’s costume designer and good friend Ashley Rebello reveals that he got this thread from the holy destination of Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh). He said, “Back in 2010, during Dabangg, we got these sacred threads from a shop in Varanasi. People from UP (Uttar Pradesh) wear this thread around their wrist. Since Salman’s character hails from UP, we made him wear that in the film. Thankfully, we had bought hundreds of these threads from the puja shop. It’s been nearly ten years, and we are still using these threads for the franchise. Guess we were prepared for the forthcoming sequels since then (laughs!).”

Apart from the sacred thread, the team had picked up yet another accessory from Varanasi, which Salman has been sporting throughout the franchise. “It is the rudraksha mala that we got from the holy destination. The mala has orange and green beads. Salman has been wearing this around his neck through the sequels. It is also visible in the teaser,” said Ashley.